AIN Fact Book | Cattala

Welcome To Cattala
Cattala is a Mediterranean country located just south of Italy and Sicily, and is home to two million people. The capital city is Celeste, and has been the home of the Royal Family of Cattala for centuries. The city is centred around the Alder Hill district, along the southern coast where the Government is based. Many aristocratic and wealthy families have lived in the city, and sprawling mansions are uncommon in the underdeveloped areas. To the east is the biggest and most populated city of Jennai, which has been the industrial and economic powerhouse of the country since the days of imperialism. More than a million people live in the city and its commuter towns, whilst the country's biggest corporations and dozens of regional headquarters for multinationals are located within the central business district.
The second biggest city is Calora, a mainly suburban city located just north of Celeste. It is linked to Jennai by a motorway and a busy railway, and is home to over 300,000 people. Calora was once a thriving port town, until the two world wars and a decline in international trade led to its closure and the city centre moved much further inland, near to the main railway terminal.



A nation of a rich history...
In the first decade of the 19th century, peace in Cattala remained despite ongoing wars across Europe, mainly fuelled by Napoleon Bonaparte. The House of Celestine, having ruled for nearly 800 years now, had named and created the capital city after their surname and had built a high-class Mediterranean city home to around 50,000 aristocratic families and foreign diplomats. Much of the population lived and worked in farming communities spread across the country.

But the 1814 Treaty of Paris gave the British Empire control over the nearby island of Malta, leading the vast Royal Navy to threaten the shores of the Kingdom. Warships surrounded the south and east of the country, and King Harold was forced to abdicate the throne and Cattala was declared a British Colony, with the current Royal Guard (Head of the Government) being replaced by a Governor.

For the next half century, over 200,000 British citizens emigrated to Cattala from across the Commonwealth, and the population rose to 750,000. English became the main language of the colony, and British culture spread rapidly around the islands. The port in Calora became a hub for aristocracy arriving from the UK and Canada, and the town sprawled into a vast city and moved further into the countryside. Ontano Island’s agricultural industry boomed local delicacies became popular with the wealthy immigrants, and the island was renamed as two villages were created – Aldoak and Brunswick.
However the age of imperial expansion in Cattala shuddered to a halt in 1860 when Italian nationalists, buoyant after seizing control of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies earlier in the year, invaded from Ontano Island and Calora Harbour, destroying all of the villages and towns in the southern islands, including Brunswick and Aldoak. Calora Harbour was captured and shut down by the Italian Navy, as the British forces rested in Malta, unaware of the ongoing situation. Within a week strategic locations across Cattala were under Italian control and a treaty was signed with the furious British Crown to hand over the dominion to the Kingdom of Italy and the Governor was hanged.

But the son of King Harold, Prince Amadeus, attempted to gather a military to fight off the Italian invaders and protect the chance of his family returning to power. But Amadeus was nearly 50 when the Italians invaded, and his small militia was vastly outnumbered. Public support in Celestine and Calora was high, and the King of Italy was concerned of a possible backlash if the deposed royal family was defeated by force. So a peace treaty was signed, and a small province was given to Amadeus along the Celestine town border, ultimately controlled by the Italians though.

The end of British rule was abrupt and shocking for those that moved to Cattala from the rest of the Commonwealth. A vast majority of the trade from the islands was with the Empire, and over 50% of the population became unemployed within the first decade of unification with the mainland. Agriculture was severely damaged by droughts throughout the early 20th century, which crippled the economy and poverty spread rapidly across Cattala and Celestine. Calora Harbour closed down, Jennai became a slum city for hundreds of thousands of unemployed poor and the only successful area was the military base and capital city, the rebuilt Porto D’Italia, now located in the south to fend off any invasion from Malta.

Prior to the Great War, Cattala continued to be under strict Italian rule, which continued to cripple the economy and faith in the Government continued freefalling. In 1912, many Cattalians left the country to move to the newly-captured island of Rhodes, now a strong ally of the country.

During World War One however, all young men were drafted into the Entente, which led to vast casualties for the Cattala Regiment. The losses were atrocious, with over 100,000 men killed, missing or left behind. The outrage that had been boiling up for generations bubbled over, and riots were reported across the country. The President of Cattala, who simply reported back to Rome and not the people, was captured and burnt to death, over 50 police officers and troops were shot dead during the winter of 1917/18 and the Union Flag, a symbol to the impoverished Cattalians of a brighter past, was hoisted above the former Royal Palace in Celeste, and Prince Amadeus’ son took the throne as King Charles III.

The beginning of World War Two unnerved many Cattalians, with tens of thousands more fleeing the country. For the first year very little happened to the country, and many thought that the war wouldn’t reach them. However in 1940 hundreds of Italian bombers attacked Celestine and destroyed the military base to the north of the city, wiped out the southern harbour and severely damaged over 4000 homes, shops and Government offices, including the Parliament. German U-Boats and Italian naval submarines surrounded Jennai City and threatened to flatten the biggest population centre in the country unless King Charles surrendered.

The King evacuated his family to a small harbour in Porto D’Italia where they were secretly picked up by a small British plane, and taken to a North African military base before heading to exile in London. Charles the Third was flown to Rome aboard Royal Cattala Airways flight SFTPOC1, a special war coding that hid the message “Sacrifice For The People Of Cattala One”, where he was reportedly hung. For the next three years Cattala was under the control of the Italians, who turned much of the countryside into air bases and training camps for Nazi and Fascist troops. An influx of German and Italian military personnel concerned the general population, especially in cities like Calora and Jennai which were expected to be prime targets for Allied bombing raids.
As the war continued, British and American forces battled the axis frontline in Africa, and in 1943 the Italian troops were pushed back into Cattala where hostile and impoverished islanders assisted the allied soldiers with medicine, food, shelter and ammunition as both the Amadeus Resistance Army (named after the anti-Italian prince) and the British 8th Army battled with the fascists for months until the withdrawal when the British/Canadian/American coalition moved into Sicily on July the 10th 1943.

Celeste is the capital of Cattala with a population of 235,365, the city is grand in its stature and contains many symbols of AIN.





Celeste is also home to a sprawling community

Transport
Most of the country's transportation networks are owned by the Government. The railways department is known as the Ferrovie corporation, and runs highly profitable lines such as the inter-city tracks between Calora, Celeste and Jennai. 65% of Cattala's railways are electrified, with plans to electrify the rest by 2020. In rural areas, railway is expanding rapidly as speeds increase, with a predicted rise to 110mph on the Jennai-Cape Almae line by 2012. The Government is currently working on a Ferrovie Railway Report (FRR) which will be completed by the end of 2010, and will outline plans for Cattala's rail network in the future.

Healthcare
Healthcare is run by the Ministry of Health and is entirely free. Hospitals are located in all towns with a population of over 8000, and modernisation of facilities has resulted in an increase in spending over the past decade. Dentistry and orthodontic care is also free, and opticians have been free for 12 years. Private healthcare is allowed, but only the upper classes tend to invest in it due to the high quality now achieved by public healthcare. Jennai is home to the country's largest private medical centre. Every citizen has the right to free prescriptions and immigrants are entitled to free healthcare after being in the country for 3 years, to prevent health tourism.


Fire and Police Services
Cattala has three main public safety services - the Police, who are split into eight regional forces, defined by provinces, the Fire and Rescue Service, also split into eight forces and the Royal National Coastguard, who protect Cattala's coasts alongside the Marino Salvatore. All three were re-created after the Second World War, following the British system.



Military
The Armato Salvatore (Armed Saviours) is around 90,000 personnel, spread across Cattala and Rhodes. It is made up of four main parts - the Salvatori Marino is the navy, which has 20,000 personnel and is based in Quentin. In the Cielo Salvatori, the air force, there are 40,000 personnel that protect the skies over much of the Mediteranean between Cattala and Rhodes. It is the largest portion of the military, and is a reason Cattala mainly specialises in aviation warfare, especially when it was at war in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Acijnstan. The Terra Salvatori (army) has 30,000 personnel and is often boosted by the 60,000 Patria Protettori that form the semi-professional army at home. The names come from the origins of the forces, which was a 15th century brigade that was run by the original Cattalian Catholic Church to protect the kingdom.